Joyful Therapy LLC

Let’s find joy together.
Not toxic positivity.
Not pretending everything’s great. Genuine treasures of goodness that we miss in the rush of life.

So privileged to get to work with children who impart transparency on me. Oh how they keep it real without even realizing the courage it takes us adults to share our feelings!

I learn things every day from the kids I’m privileged to work with… they get back up quickly, they forgive readily, and teach me to marvel at the little things. What have you learned recently from a child, big or small?

Each day is an opportunity to take a baby step. Lasting change doesn't happen overnight. Lasting change doesn't happen in big strides. Transformation happens through small, tiny changes that you can maintain over time. It starts today. What's your baby step?

Don’t mind me. Just here to (re)introduce myself…

My name is Amy. I’m an occupational therapist. Child development specialist. Outdoor fanatic. Change maker and problem solver.

I’m not here to shame you for your parenting style or oversimplify the challenges of raising neurodivergent children (heck no!). I’m here to share my journey and plant seeds of relevant info to assist you on yours.

My goal is to walk with you - to empower you with child development info that’s not commonly known or discussed, and to advocate for your children who are misunderstood and mislabeled. I’m here to offer tips I’ve learned from experience and empathize with the ups and downs of caring for neurodivergent children.

I’m so grateful you’ve stopped by my little corner of the internet and would love to get to know you more! So what’s your favorite color?? Comment below!

It’s not just pumpkin spice and everything nice for kids with sensory processing difficulties.

🍁 Schedule shifts (back to school)
🍁 Change of temperature
🍁 The feel of longer clothing
🍁 Group gatherings and holiday traditions
🍁 Changes that feel scary

With fall comes countless changes for little ones to process. Be patient with them ♥️

You’ll never regret investing in your child’s development.

♥️♥️♥️

Thought for the day…

In the world of child development, sometimes we get so fixated on reaching a goal that we miss the beauty of the growth process. Personal growth has ups and downs. It's messy. It takes time. It's a process.

Raise a hand if...
🤚 you've lost your patience with a child who was trying their best
🤚 you've overlooked a child's efforts because their peers did better
🤚 you've been frustrated at the speed of a child's progress
(Psst... I've done all of these and needed to reset)

And just like our little one's, our growth in learning how to effectively support and nurture each individual is a process too.

Gentle reminder that we are growing little humans, not robots.
And we are humans, not robots.

Our kids must learn how to fail and get back up. We must teach by modeling. Do you wish your child had more grit to try new things, stick something out, or get back up from a perceived failure? Reach out! I would love to help.

💯 Click here to read about how you can help your child cope with failure >>> https://selfsufficientkids.com/child-deal-with-failure/

This is it.🔥🔥🔥

Easy to say, hard to do... do we really celebrate differences? Or just barely tolerate differences? I often see body or mobility differences (a wheelchair, glasses, missing limb) go over better than brain differences (hyper-focused on a topic, fidgety, speaking out of turn). As the adults, how can we model to the next generation that we really care and won't just judge a book by the cover?

What you do day in and day out with your children matters. The little things that feel like they don't make a difference. They do.

Do you feel stuck with your child's progress?
Are you confused by their behaviors?

Message us today!
Offering pediatric occupational therapy in the Spokane, WA area.

Transformation is hard work. Lasting change doesn’t come from taking on the big picture all at once. But from breaking a problem down into tiny, bite-size pieces.

Occupational therapy breaks a problem into 3 areas of change: the person, the environment, and the task. Can we strengthen a person’s skills? Can we remove barriers in the environment or increase accessibility? Can we modify or simplify the task and still get a similar result?

Lasting transformation in child development involves the child, their home or classroom environment, and their daily tasks. Change in any of these areas takes time and persistence. Be kind to yourself… start small.

Taking a moment to smell the roses. Zoom call with my web developer. (We are close to publishing version 1.0)

As things amp up on the business side, intentionally making space for nature brings me back to the “why” of the work we do. Staring at a screen is not my favorite. But if it’s an avenue for bringing hope and healing to others… count me in.

Look out… our website is about to drop!

Had a beautiful adventure this weekend! Nature truly is therapeutic! The sights, sounds, smells, and contact with the earth reset my overloaded sensory systems (nervous system). Feeling refreshed and energized after taking time to regroup. I am able to give better after filling my own cup. 🌲 ⛰️ 🥾

I want to normalize that mothers can feel a range of emotions on a holiday that draws attention to their motherhood journey. Mother’s Day doesn’t always feel happy. It’s ok for other feelings to coexist… often disappointment, grief, anger, sadness, frustration, longing, and pain can mingle together with joy, laughter, and gratitude.

To mothers of premature babies who spent their first days in the NICU…
To mothers who had medically complex births that could not have been further from how they’d planned it…
To mothers of children who didn’t hit their milestones on time…
To mothers who have been told by “experts” that their child will not read, write, talk, or walk…
To mothers who advocate alone for their child to receive more support services…
To mothers who’s worlds have become consumed with taking care of their special needs children…
To mothers who haven’t had good sleep in years because their children don’t sleep through the night…

We see you.
We stand with you.
You are not alone.
We wrap our arms around you, especially today. ♥️

Hello! Amy here. It seems time to get reacquainted! I have been passionate about helping children thrive since I was young, and pursued a career that could leave a positive impact on the little ones of the next generation. I received both my bachelors and masters in Occupational Therapy in Massachusetts, where I am from.

I have over 13 years experience working with children in various capacities: nannying, working in a daycare, being a 1:1 teachers aide to special needs students, teaching in a residential program for teenagers with severe autism, and at a transitional living program for young adults aging out of the foster care system… As an occupational therapist, I have experience serving in a special education program in Nicaragua for 6 months, and in the United States working in early intervention (home visits from 0-3 years), schools, and outpatient clinics. I just kind of love kids.

I am excited you’re here and eager to share my journey, my knowledge, and my passion with you! If you are in the Spokane, WA or Coeur d’Alene, ID areas, please reach out! I am here to help you help your children and your students thrive regardless of diagnoses or challenging life circumstances. Together let’s nurture greatness in all children. ♥️

Children sense lack of authenticity better than you think… the emotional safety of a situation matters, because engaging in learning is risky.

Quote of the Day

♥️♥️♥️

So, when something can be played with in a variety of different ways, it becomes a more valuable resource for play, inspiring imagination and encouraging creativity, both of which are essential for a child's healthy development. The resources trees provide can have a much higher play value than manufactured toys or play equipment – a stick can be almost anything whilst a slide is pretty much just a slide.

Pediatric (for kids) occupational therapy can be so many things, and not all providers hold the same values. Some are focused on “fixing” children, or making them as “normal” as possible. Nope, next.
That’s not Joyful Therapy.

We celebrate differences.
We promote inclusion and understanding.
We see beauty in neurodiversity (brains with different needs and strengths).

We believe play is the means to learning, through safe and silly connection.
We practice compassion.
We value parents as equal members of the therapy team.

We are creative, flexible, and transparent when working with your children.
We don’t have all the answers.
We celebrate little victories with you.

Incredibly grateful to be in an inclusive continuing education conference for parents, therapists, and special educators… 🎉🎉🎉 to be in the presence of MICKEY ROWE - a professional speaker/actor/writer who was told he was stupid as a child, nonverbal the first years of his life, later diagnosed with autism and legally blind!!! He is genius, compassionate, relatable!!! ♥️♥️♥️ He has overcome isolation, discrimination, stigma, and a world with overwhelming social expectations and sensory experiences. 🥹🥹💪💪

So where’s your office?
Not all business models are brick and mortar. Mine will include working with children in small groups outdoors. Sure I dream of having a physical location one day, but to be honest I’m in no position to pursue that right now. You have to start where you are, with what you have now.
If a business is a plane, I am the engine. Yesterday my office was a coffee shop in the morning, a park in the afternoon as I walked and brainstormed, and a pizza place as I reviewed my notes from a lecture earlier in the day. My office is anywhere I am. As it starts, the business is intricately connected to me. As it grows, it prayerfully becomes a thing of its own, that lives and breathes apart from my every move.
Come alongside me as I go on this journey! Let’s learn together ♥️

I wonder what learning opportunities we would encounter if we replaced saying “be careful” and “don’t do that” with “you are high off the ground. What’s your plan?” or possibly “does your body feel safe?”

I wonder how this could transform power struggles in relationships with children- to allow space for curiosity and experiencing natural consequences, rather than outward obedience without knowing why.

❤️💚❤️

Hello! It’s me!
Wow it’s been a minute…
The vision is evolving, the creative ideas are flowing, the blue light glasses are out!
Took a long hiatus but sometimes that’s needed to redefine the mission, clarify goals, and grow in your skill set.
More to come, join me on the journey, we will be serving children in the Spokane WA area very soon 😍😍😍

Crawling is an important developmental milestone. If it is skipped, motor skills will be impacted later in childhood.